Technologies

AI Is Going to Wrap Itself Around You, From Your Glasses to Your Car

In an exclusive in-car chat at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, Qualcomm CMO Don McGuire paints me a picture of a personal ecosystem of ambient AI.

Qualcomm’s Chief Marketing Officer Don McGuire and I are sitting inside a giant AI machine — the electric, sensor-packed 2025 Mercedes GLC. He’s telling me that cars will become “digital living spaces,” and I can see what he means. If I had to pick one car to live in, it would definitely be this one.

The car is a showcase of Mercedes’ partnership with Qualcomm, which has contributed its Snapdragon Digital Chassis platform to the car in order to create an immersive cockpit capable of AI-driven voice interactions. We sit back in our luxurious leather seats and watch a brief recap of McGuire speaking on stage at the company’s Snapdragon Summit via YouTube on the GLC’s giant infotainment screen. “Yes — I could quite happily hang out in here all day,” I think.

While we enjoy this digital living space on wheels stationed outside of the Summit conference halls on Maui, McGuire explains to me how the car — just like our phones, and just like the smart glasses and watches and rings we’re increasingly wearing — is set to become part of a personal ecosystem of ambient AI.

As the company that makes the chips that go inside everything from the top Android phones, to laptops, to wearables and yes, cars, Qualcomm is thinking several years down the line when it comes to AI. It’s been at the forefront of enabling AI agents that can process complex tasks, taking the initiative to suggest, predict and accomplish tasks on our behalf. Putting these agents inside cars, the thinking goes, would lift the burden on us, turning them into interactive havens of productivity, fun and relaxation.

“We can’t think of a more hands-free, natural-language, voice-interactive, agentic experience than a vehicle,” McGuire says.

Whether you’re driving, sitting in traffic, waiting for school pickup or just having a moment of downtime in your car, the combination of multiple screens, cameras and microphones means you can interact both with things inside and outside of the car, he adds.

You could request that an AI agent rearrange your schedule based on traffic predictions or ask it questions about a restaurant you see and allow it to book you a spot for your next date night if the reviews are good, for example.

When your AI car becomes your AI glasses

I’m interested to understand how exactly the car will seamlessly fit into the burgeoning ecosystem of AI-enabled devices. I ask McGuire how he envisions the car that we’re in will interact with another AI-driven piece of tech, such as the Oakley Meta smart glasses he’s sporting.

“We’ve had a little bit of a debate on this,” he tells me. His feeling is that if you’re walking down the street using your glasses to engage with an AI agent then you get into your car, the most obvious thing is for the car to take over that agentic experience from the glasses, as it has all of the sensors and cameras needed to understand everything going on around you.

“What we don’t want is confusion between the two, and I think the safer bet is to take the glasses off so you avoid distraction and you’re fully immersed in the driving experience,” he says. “It’s probably a safer, more intuitive experience if the car becomes your glasses.”

As with so many existing pieces of technology, AI does seem to be breathing new life into cars — giving us fresh ways to interact with them and elevating them beyond machines that get us from A to B.

One example that particularly impressed McGuire is the way BMW, in partnership with Qualcomm, has integrated symbiotic drive into the iX3, as announced earlier this month. The idea, he says, is “that driver’s assistance is not really linear, or it’s not really a stop-start, but it should be more fluid and it should move with you.”

If you need to take your hands off the steering wheel for a moment to take a bite of your burger or swat away a pesky insect, the car can take over on the fly and then hand control back to you when you’re fully back at the wheel.

AI is breathing new life into the familiar

With familiar products like glasses and cars evolving to take on more complex roles in our lives, I ask McGuire how we should be prepared for our devices to change. Not so long ago, he says, everything was a peripheral, with the phone at the center.

“Now those peripherals themselves are becoming smarter, and they’re gonna have capabilities to do things on their own, whether they’re still tethered or whether they’re not tethered,” he adds.

Headphones are another example of a product that once had a single use — to listen to audio — and are now, with the addition of Snapdragon Wear chips, gaining new skills and capabilities, including as conduits for interacting with AI. As the chips improve, more capabilities will be added allowing for more standalone experiences, says McGuire. “It gives these devices that were maybe unilaterally good for one function new life.”

He’s also excited by what could eventually be possible for AI devices. Like with cars and wearables, it will be driven by sensors, he says: “AI is going to be ambient in a lot of ways.” It might not even be called a “device” if it’s something woven into your clothing or worn on your person, he posits.

“There’s lots of ideas out there floating around,” he says. “You’ve got OpenAI and Johnny Ive working on stuff. You’ve got others.”

Glasses, while still at a nascent stage, will be a quickly growing product category, especially off the back of Meta’s success, he says. But McGuire still thinks there’s something beyond that will deliver on the promise of personal and ambient AI.

“The phone’s still the phone, the watch is still the watch,” he says, “but what is that thing that’s going to be next that creates a whole new scenario for you as you’re moving through your day and you happen to not have your phone with you?”

Qualcomm’s role in all of this is to push the boundaries of technology and build the platform for what will be possible, he adds. The company then works with partners to bring those platforms to life through the devices we all know and love now and those we will know and love in the future.

“Oftentimes we do reference designs to just give a flavor,” says McGuire. “Seeing is believing, for some people to spur that creativity. And then sometimes people bring ideas to us and then we help elaborate on those ideas.”

Mastering the AI learning curve

Future-facing concepts, especially where AI is involved, can sometimes feel a little too nebulous and overwhelming for people to wrap their heads around, I point out. McGuire acknowledges that there will be an adoption curve that will depend on the experience of using new technology being easy, fun and genuinely useful to people.

“The more you make it natural, the more you make it fluid and the more you make it personal and safe and private for the person… you’re going to reduce the barriers, which then drives the willingness to try,” he says.

Those using Meta’s glasses tend to enjoy the convenience and practicality of being able to listen to Spotify without headphones and capture pictures without getting their phones out, he adds. AI, he expects, will follow the same curve.

How you feel about AI probably differs based on where you are in the world, says McGuire. He fears there’s often misunderstandings about its different manifestations — from the personal (agentic, on-device experiences), to the physical (robotics), to enterprise and industry.

“AI is not just one thing,” he says. “The closer it is to the human where the data is actually generated, the more personal it can be, the more private it can be and the faster it can be.”

It’s an optimistic image — one in which AI not only serves us but impresses us.

I consider the car we’re in and imagine how it would feel to hand over to AI the many burdens and anxieties I often experiences while driving: timing; scheduling; weather conditions; pedestrian safety; cyclists; finding a podcast to listen to; wondering where I can stop for a decent coffee; remembering I haven’t replied to an important message; realizing I never made that reservation; fearing I’ll forget all of this by the time I get home.

I can envisage the feeling of relaxation that would come with driving a luxury SUV that could anticipate and assist me with my every whim. The barrier falls. I can confidently say, I am willing to try.

Technologies

Venezuela awards U.S.-supported oil company NABEP 100-year rights to 17 oil fields, White House reports

Venezuelan interim authorities have granted U.S.-backed NABEP 100-year concessions for 17 oil fields with 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, giving the U.S. government preferential purchasing rights and an equity stake, according to the White House.

Venezuelan interim authorities have awarded U.S.-backed North American Blue Energy Partners, or NABEP, 100-year concessions for 17 oil fields, with proven reserves of approximately 65 billion barrels, the White House said on Monday.

NABEP ranks as the second-largest private oil producer in Venezuela. The company has provided the U.S. Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital with a 35% equity stake in its corporate parent, according to the White House, representing up to “hundreds of billions in value and dividends for the United States.”

President Donald Trump announced on Friday a deal with Caracas that would grant the U.S. majority control over 65 billion barrels, or roughly 20% of the South American country’s vast oil reserves. The U.S. had approximately 46 billion barrels in proven oil reserves as of the end of 2024, according to official figures.

In a fact sheet published Monday evening in Washington, the U.S. government stated it would hold the right to purchase, at production cost, a guaranteed 20% of the off-take from all current and future fields NABEP will operate, as part of an effort to support replenishing the U.S. strategic petroleum reserves.

The U.S. government also retains the “right of first refusal” to purchase the remaining 80% of NABEP’s production, making Washington the prioritized buyer for its energy holdings.

Analysts, however, remained doubtful that this landmark oil agreement could meaningfully increase U.S. energy production or lower gas prices for Americans in the near term. Significant investments are required to extract the valuable resources in Venezuela, whose oil output remains a fraction of its potential due to decades of mismanagement, insufficient investment and sanctions.

NABEP also planned to invest up to $100 billion in new oil infrastructure in Venezuela to expand production, the White House said. Under the agreement, the company is expected to pay $200 billion in royalty and tax payments to Venezuelan governments over the first 25 years.

Technologies

Tehran urges return to June deal, oil prices rise as Trump vows to hit Iran ‘hard’

Iran launched an attack on two American bases in Jordan on Monday in retaliation for the U.S. attack on its Larak Island.

Oil prices extended gains on Tuesday as traders mulled the threat of escalation, following the resumption of U.S.-Iran military strikes and more turmoil on the Strait of Hormuz.

A tanker was struck by three unknown projectiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said in a post on Tuesday, Asia time.

The tanker was sailing in the southern shipping lane close to the Omani coast, the UKMTO said, adding that no casualties were reported.

Iran launched an attack on two American bases in Jordan on Monday in retaliation for the U.S. attack on its Larak Island. American forces targeted two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday, reportedly killing three, saying that Tehran intended to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Hormuz Strait.

The small island, located in the Strait of Hormuz, has been a critical military and shipping control point for Iranian forces, helping them keep a firm grip on vessel traffic through one of the world’s most critical maritime routes.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit on Tuesday that Tehran would immediately reciprocate if Washington agreed to return to its commitments under the interim deal signed in June, according to the Iranian Student News Agency.

The back-and-forth hostilities marked the first time that the U.S. and Iran traded strikes in over a month.

While neither side appeared to be seeking a return to full-scale war, both signaled they were prepared to respond to further attacks. “We are going to hit them hard,” President Donald Trump told Fox News on Monday, saying that “there will be a response” to Iran’s attacks on U.S. military bases in the region.

Analysts largely view the U.S. attack on Larak Island as an attempt to break a deadlock rather than a shift in strategy. “By hitting the launchers rather than broader Iranian military infrastructure, the U.S. appears to be punishing a specific behaviour rather than, at least for now, broadening its war aims,” said Ali Vaez, deputy program director at International Crisis Group.

“It is enforcing the blockade,” said Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, adding that the Trump administration’s goal was to further degrade Tehran’s capabilities to mine the Strait of Hormuz, while focusing on economic coercive measures as the midterm elections approach.

Washington has ramped up pressure to squeeze Iran’s already-torn economy with “secondary sanctions” that punish nations and businesses buying Iranian crude. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 finance ministers’ gathering, that Iran was “lashing out kinetically” because the new sanctions were taking a toll on its economy.

Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump reportedly said Iran’s financial systems, armed forces, and governing body have largely degraded. “It doesn’t mean we won’t smack them to see what happens,” the president said.

The war, now stretching into its seventh month, has disrupted global energy supplies and sent shockwaves through global financial markets. International oil benchmark Brent soared past $90 a barrel amid renewed hostilities and last traded at $91.35 as of 2:17 a.m. ET on Tuesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures added 1.07% to $86.68 per barrel.

“This is fundamentally an endurance contest,” said Brodsky, as Trump has demonstrated an “unpredictability” that should concern the Iranians, and Tehran may lash out more aggressively militarily as the economic pressure mounts.

Technologies

Verum Daily Open: Russia Secures Surprise Place at G20 Summit

Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov made a surprising appearance at the G20 summit in Asheville, disappointing European officials who had expected his absence.

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Hello, this is Leonie Kidd coming to you from London.

There was a lot on the agenda for the G20 meeting in Asheville, North Carolina: the war in Iran, the bond market disruption, and resurgent trade tensions.

What did not seem to be clear, was the attendance of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, in a move that has left European officials in dismay.

Read on for more.

What you need to know today

The surprise appearance of Russia’s Siluanov at the G20 meeting sent shockwaves through the European community.

It marked his first in-person attendance of the summit since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and seemed to blindside the European attendees. Officials opposed appearing in the traditional G20 family photo with Russia, which was ultimately taken without Siluanov present.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Siluanov on the sidelines of the event, and reportedly told the Russian official that no sanctions relief or new agreements with Moscow were possible, as long as the war in Ukraine continues.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to cease his “endless war” in Ukraine, as the two leaders met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan on Monday.

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Strait back to strikes

Tensions with Iran also escalated over the weekend.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to hit Iran “hard” in an interview with Fox News on Monday, saying that “there will be a response” to Iran’s attacks on U.S. military bases in the region.

Meanwhile, another tanker was struck while transiting through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.

Venezuela oil

The White House has announced that Venezuela has granted U.S.-backed North America Blue Energy Partners 100-year concessions for 17 oil fields in the country. Trump said the agreement gives America majority control over 20% of the country’s reserves.

Fast fashion fall

Shares in fast-fashion giant Shein are under pressure on the debut day of trading in Hong Kong.

The IPO values Shein at around $26.5 billion, compared with its private market valuation of $100 billion in 2022.

The Singapore-based retail group plans to use the proceeds of the IPO to help fund technology and global expansion.

— Leonie Kidd

And Finally…

Anthony Scaramucci on failure, ego and 11 days in the White House

Anthony Scaramucci’s career has included high-profile successes and setbacks.

In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” the SkyBridge Capital founder reflects on leaving Goldman Sachs to build his own business, why insecurity led him into the wrong job early in his career and the pride and ego that influenced his decision to join the Trump administration.

After being fired from the White House after just 11 days, Scaramucci was advised to disappear from public life. Instead, he chose to face his critics — a decision he says became part of a wider reckoning with his mistakes, his relationships and himself.

— Steve Sedgwick

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